In speaking of the anatta, or illusion in which we are miserably rocked as long as we stay in this world, our philosopher is equally eloquent. If we consider with some attention this world, we will never be able to discover in it anything else but name and form; and, as a necessary consequence, all that exists is but illusion. Here is the manner we must carry on our reasoning. The things that I see and know are not myself, nor from myself, nor to myself. What seems to be myself is in reality neither myself nor belongs to myself. What appears to me to be another is neither myself nor from myself. The organs of senses, such as the eyes, the ears, &c., are neither myself nor to myself. They are but illusions, or as nothing relatively to me. The form is not a form; the attributes of a living being are not attributes; beings are not beings. All that is an aggregate of the four elements, and these again are but form and name, and these two are but an illusion, destitute of reality. In a being, then, there are two attributes, form and sensation, that appear to have some more consistency than other things. Yet they have no reality; their nature and condition is to be destitute of all reality and stability.[52] Penetrated with the truth of these and like considerations, the sage declares at once that all things are neither himself nor belong to himself. Nothing, therefore, appears worthy his notice. He at once divorces himself from the world and all the things that are therein. He would fain have nothing to do with it; he holds it in supreme contempt and utter disgust.
He who has reached this lofty point of sublime science is at once secure from the snares of seduction and the path of error. He will escape from the whirlpool of human miseries, and infallibly reach the state of Neibban. The most perfect among the perfect are so much taken upon with and deeply affected by the view of Neibban, that they tend in that direction without effort. Others, somewhat less advanced in the sublime science, discover, it is true, the state of Neibban at a distance, but its sight is as yet dimmed and somewhat obscured. They want as yet to train up their mind to and perfect it in the exercise of that meditation of which we have given an abbreviated analysis.
NOTICE ON THE PHONGYIES, OR BUDDHIST MONKS,
SOMETIMES CALLED TALAPOINS.[53]
In the foregoing pages we have first given a sketch of the life of the founder of Buddhism, and in the accompanying notes endeavoured to explain the more important particulars respecting the extraordinary religious system he has established. Subsequently, in the way to Neibban, we have laid down, in as few words as possible, the great metaphysical principles upon which is raised the great structure of Buddhism, and pointed out the way leading to the pretended perfection, or rather the end of perfection, Neibban. It seems to be necessary to devote a particular notice to the religious Order which forms the most striking feature of that religion, which has extended its sway over so many nations. The association of devotees holds the first rank among the followers of Buddha; it comprises the élite of that immense body. The system of discipline to which the Buddhist religious are subjected, is the highest practical illustration of the doctrines and practices of Buddhism. We may see reflected in that corporation the greatest results that the working of these religious institutions can ever produce. All that Buddha, in his efforts, has been able to devise as most fit to lead man to the perfection, such as he understood it, will be found in the constitutions of that order. It is a living mirror in which we may contemplate the masterpiece of his creation. The Buddhist religious constitute the thanga, or assembly of the perfect, that is to say, of the disciples who have left the world, conformed their life to that of their teacher, and striven to acquire the science that will qualify them for entering into the way leading to perfection. They are the strict followers of Buddha, who, like him, have renounced the world, to devote themselves to the two-fold object of mastering their passions and acquiring the true wisdom which alone can lead to the deliverance.
The best method for obtaining correct information respecting the Buddhist religious is not, it seems, to consider their order from an abstract point of view, but rather in connection with the religion it has sprung from, as affording a perfect exemplification of its highest practices, maxims, and tendencies, as well as of the real nature and true spirit of that creed.
Buddhism is evidently an off-shoot of Brahminism. We find it replete with principles, practices, observances, and dogmas belonging to the great Hindu system. Gaudama, being himself a Hindu, reared in a Hindu society, trained up in the Hindu schools of philosophy, could not but imbibe, to a great extent, the opinions and observances of his contemporaries. He dissented from them, it is true, in many important points, but in the generality of his teachings he seems to have agreed with them. He found existing in his times a body of religious and philosophers, whose mode of life was peculiar and quite distinct from that of the people. When he laid the plan for the religious institution he contemplated to establish, he found around him most of the elements he required for that work. He had but to improve on what he saw existing, and make his new order agree with the religious tenets he innovated.
In the hope of tracing up the ties of relationship that must have existed between the religious of the Brahminical order, and those of the Buddhist one, the writer will begin this notice with establishing a short parallel between the former, such as they are described in the Institutes of Menoo, and the institution of the latter, such as it is explained in the Wini, or Book of discipline. Afterwards the nature of the Buddhist order and the object its members have in view in embracing it will be examined; next to that, the constituent parts of that body and its hierarchy shall receive a due share of attention. We will describe at the same time the ceremonies observed on the solemn occasion of admitting individuals into the religious society, and expound briefly the rules that direct and regulate the whole life of a professed member as long as he remains in the brotherhood. It will not be found amiss to inquire into the cause and nature of the great religious influence undoubtedly possessed by the members of the order, and examine the motives that induce the votaries of Buddhism to show the greatest respect and give unfeigned marks of the deepest veneration to the Talapoins or Phongyies. This will be concluded with a short account of the low and degraded state into which the society has fallen in these parts, particularly in what has reference to knowledge and information.